What type of data does static acquisition primarily target?

Static acquisition primarily targets historical data. This process involves capturing a complete image of the digital storage medium, such as hard drives, USB drives, or memory cards, at a specific point in time. The goal is to preserve the existing data in its current state for forensic analysis.

Historical data refers to all the information that is present on the storage medium at the moment of acquisition. It includes files, documents, system artifacts, deleted items (if recoverable), and any other data that existed prior to the acquisition process. By focusing on historical data, forensic investigators can conduct a thorough analysis without the interference of ongoing processes or changes that might occur during live data extraction.

On the other hand, real-time data, temporary data, and live data are not the primary focus of static acquisition. Real-time data reflects the state of a system as it is operating, which may change continuously and is generally collected through live data acquisition methods. Temporary data typically refers to data that is not intended for permanent storage and may include cache files or system logs, which are also not the main aim of static acquisition. Live data involves capturing information from a system while it is powered on and operational, which is a different approach compared to static acquisition.